Fagan: On the Mend.

We’ve been getting a lot of questions regarding Fagan and his story. Sometimes, a bird comes around that touches the lives of many. We know he has touched ours; so we thought we would take a moment to share him with all of you.

Fagan & Tilly came in as happens with many pet birds- their owners had become too old to care for them.  In this case dad passed away and it was found by their daughter that the home was un-inhabitable.  The daughter called us and asked if we could help so she could take mom back home with her. 

Now before we get into all of the details, it was obvious these birds were loved. They were kept for 25 years by their family and these are both terrific birds. Very friendly, sweet and as well behaved as our feathered companions can be.  Their family did something right. They were obviously much loved- if not correctly cared for in many ways. That’s what makes it so sad. More educational resources in the way of birds could have very well circumvented this from ever happening.

The owners smoked- it appears quite heavily. Both Tilly and Fagen were discolored and stank of cigars/cigarettes.  Their cages were coated in it. When they first arrived we bathed both birds and our hands came away yellowed and stained with it.  Birds respiratory system is different than ours. They inhale twice: once to fill their lungs and the second inhalation fills the airsacks. Then they exhale twice. Their respiratory system is up to 70% more efficient than humans. Smoking is a HUGE no-no.  From what we can gather they lived in this smoke filled environment for 25 years and their family didn’t even know how horrible this was for their pets.

Add to this very poor caging, lack of enrichment (toys and foraging opportunities) and a poor diet you have all of the ingredients for a birdy disaster.

Fagan began plucking at a very young age and was collared.  When we he came to us he had a quarter size mutilation on his tummy.  He had chewed through the collar.  He was seen by Dr. Orosz and it’s believed he hasn’t been mutilating for long. The wound is shallow and there is no scar tissue.  He had serious infections in his throat and lungs, a hole in his belly and a diet that is not compatible with life.  Then he began 5 days of seizures.  These were determined to be from nicotine withdrawal by our avain vet. He is not the first documented case of nicotine addiction in parrots- the effects on birds from smoking is well documented.  He had to be driven to the vet to be tube fed for days and we spent about 7 days giving him midazolam injections to keep the seizures and shaking under control.  His very blood cells were toxic. His medications consist of a microderm patch, Sulfatrim, Nystantin, Midazolam, vitamin C , Tramadol, and DMSA.

We took in Fagan and we drove Tilly to Trace with Fine Feathered Sanctuary.

Fagan is doing great.  He’s been a challenge. Getting him to eat on his own, getting him to play and most importantly right now keeping him from his belly is all a day by day struggle.  It’s also been a joy! Tilly has found a new home.

Fagan

Tilly

Pass the word- smoking and birds don’t mix! If you must smoke go outside and wash your hands and face when you come back in.  Wear a smoking jacket or shirt you can leave at the door. We choose to live with our parrots, they never choose us. We owe it to them to look out for their best interests.

If you would like to make a donation towards Fagan's care and the other birds here at FFOM please visit us on our website at www.featheredfriendsrescue.org  for a list of ways you can help make a difference for a parrot in need today!

Remembering Our Founder

           After Widgets passing in February I’ve had a lot of time to reflect back on life with my little feathered friend.  I’ve come to the conclusion that our time together reminds me a lot of that loveable and mischievous Golden Retriever in “Marley and Me.” Widgets life, much like Marleys, was spent in one misadventure after another.  Despite this he was never, not for one moment, anything less than endearing. I miss him so much. He was supposed to grow old and grey and retire with me and instead im stuck with this empty cage and an all to quiet house.

I remember when Elliot, my son, was about 2. He was going through that unfortunate phase of throwing temper tantrums. He would throw himself down on the ground screaming and it wasn’t very long before Widget would throw himself down on his back and scream too. Just like Elliot. 

Next Widget became the great escape artist. He wanted to sleep with us. He just loved to cuddle under the blankets with us, but we feared he would manage to get into bed with us and get hurt by us rolling over on him. So we decided to give him Elliot’s room. So Elliot moved into our bedroom and Widget moved into Elliot's bedroom.. We shouldn’t have been so worried. Widget was way too much of a big mouth. I mean seriously, what were we thinking? How can you possibly miss a 12 inch green monster running down the hall towards your bedroom screaming “Widget steppin’ up, stepping up?” Not even our neighbors missed that one.

Then there’s the time we clipped his wings to keep him out of trouble- that didn’t work. He quickly learned  what I like to refer to as the "Swing and Fling Method." He would swing and fling himself from toys and other objects throughout the room. He took out two laptop computers with this technique.

Moving forward the pantry raids begin. Tim, my husband, put a lock on the pantry door, as it had become Widgets favorite no-no hideout. Inevitably he would poo on a can of green beans, or something. Completely disgusting.  Off birdie limits, right? Not for Widgee. He just ate through the slats. Apparently so he could acquire a bag of cheetos.  At least that was what was stuck in the pantry door where the slats used to be.

I will always remember how he took apart cages. He always escaped, and he always took at least a couple of screws out and sometimes we found them. It was never enough to just liberate himself though. I think he took great glee in liberating all of the birds in rescue at that time. He’d open every cage.  You don’t know what a mess can be until you’ve had 10 or so parrots all loose, unsupervised at the same time.

 That was my boy and I loved him dearly, antics and all. He was really the start of this parrot rescue. I always say this rescue will be my legacy. Something that I did and left to make my little part of the world a better place, but in truth it always was and always will be Widgets and it was my life that was made better for it.

RIP Widget: Founder of Feathered Friends of Michigan.